In the News

Their politics may differ, but both the Tea Party and the Occupy movement have claimed to represent the interests of the middle class. Neither the members of the House Tea Party Caucus nor those of the House Progressive Caucus, whose views most closely align with the Occupy Wall Street movement, are close to being middle class, but Tea Party Caucus is especially wealthy, according to the Center’s research.

Despite a stubbornly sour national economy congressional members’ personal wealth collectively increased by more than 16 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics of federal financial disclosures released earlier this year.

Republican Mark Leyva is one of a several hundred federal candidates whose campaign committees are reporting some form of debt, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of Federal Election Commission records.

Many candidates are hitting the campaign trail with a promise to end cozy relationships with special interests. Yet eager as they are to show some understanding of voters’ concerns, the words of many incumbents are falling far short of the reality when it comes to their campaign accounts.

Heading into the final stretch of the 2010 election, six House incumbents — five Democrats and one Republican — have less money left in their campaign coffers than their best-funded challengers, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of the campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Eight House incumbents — six Democrats and two Republicans — have less money left in their campaign coffers at the end of June than their best-funded challengers, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of the campaign finance data reported last week to the Federal Election Commission.

Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) don’t agree on health care reform. They don’t agree on energy legislation, nor do they agree on immigration. Politically, they may not agree on much at all. However, they do share one distinction. Both have received nearly two-thirds of their campaign contributions from donors who contribute $200 or less, the Federal Election Commission’s threshold for itemized disclosure. By comparison, the average House member only received 7 percent of their contributions from such “small donors.”

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